Yen-Ping Hsueh appointed as Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen
Our new Director establishes the Department of Complex Biological Interactions, focusing on the molecular interactions and coevolution between carnivores and their prey.
As Director, Yen-Ping (“Ping”) Hsueh heads one of the six Departments at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen. With her recruitment, the institute expands its expertise in molecular mechanisms in evolutionary biology.
“We are thrilled that Ping is joining us,” said Ruth Ley, the Managing Director of the MPI Biology Tübingen. “She brings an exemplary international research record, a compelling vision, strong leadership experience, and a perfect fit with the institute’s research goals of advancing the knowledge of evolutionary biology.”
At the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Dr. Hsueh will lead the Department of Complex Biological Interactions, focusing on understanding the cross-kingdom predator-prey interaction and co-evolution between carnivorous fungi and nematodes. Dr. Hsueh and her team’s research will significantly advance our understanding of the biology of nematode-trapping fungi such as the oyster mushroom. Their work seeks to answer how carnivorism arose in the fungal kingdom, and to open new avenues for developing biocontrol methods and novel treatments for parasitic nematode infections in the long term. Her research also aims to understand how the model nematode C. elegans senses and responds to fungal predators and to unveil the secrets behind the predatory mechanisms and evolution in the fungal kingdom.
About Yen-Ping Hsueh
Yen-Ping Hsueh was born in Taipei and received her undergraduate and master’s degrees at the National Taiwan University, majoring in Plant Pathology and Microbiology. In 2003, she joined the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University, USA, for her PhD and stayed on as a postdoctoral fellow under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Heitman. There, she studied the genetics and evolution of the sexual cycle and the mating-type locus of the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. In 2010, she relocated to Caltech, USA, where she worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Paul Sternberg’s lab, investigating the predatory-prey relationship between Caenorhabditis elegans and the nematode-trapping fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora. In 2015, Yen-Ping Hsueh established her independent laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica in Taiwan, where she was a professor. Dr. Hsueh received the Taiwan Outstanding Women in Science (TOWIS) 2022 Award in the Most Promising Young Scientist category and is a member of the EMBO Global Investigator Network (GIN) and Young Investigator Program (YIP).